


Dead World

by FlightOfInsanity



Series: Destiny 2 [8]
Category: Destiny (Video Game)
Genre: Destiny 2, because it's the only thing i write now apparently :P, except for the fact that everything is bad, no in-game spoilers that i'm aware of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-06 02:58:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12202521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlightOfInsanity/pseuds/FlightOfInsanity
Summary: Where everything is bad, but it gets a little less bad.





	1. Chapter 1

Liora had never really liked Mars.

Before, it was just a matter of preference – she preferred to be on planets with life and plants and signs of civilization. Mars was an old world, long dead, and its life and civilization were slowly being consumed by the sands and she had always thought it sad.

Now, she hated it because this was where everything was happening. Her Light was gone, her ghost was suffering, her Titan was probably dead. The Cabal were everywhere, they had no ship, no radios, nothing. It was a dead world and everything was dying. She was stranded and alone, save for the two Ghosts with her.

She tucked under a nearby rock overhang for a moment out of the dusty sunlight and curled into the small space, out of sight. It had been a week or more of wandering and she hadn’t found anything like what Mava had described. The mountains had been easy, but the map hadn’t been detailed enough to lead her to the shelter she had mentioned. She was terrified and exhausted and she desperately wanted to go home. Maybe this was all a nightmare and none of it was real. Maybe this was what Lox dreamed of when she tried to sleep.

Carefully, she pulled Mava’s ghost from her robes. Part of her had hoped he would be awake, but he was as inert as he’d been since the Light vanished. She ran a thumb along one of his tines, remembering the amount of time she and Lox had spent searching for the perfect gift shell. The amount of time they’d spent arguing over the colors.

Her breath hitched and her vision blurred and she clutched the ghost close to her chest. She hadn’t though of Lox in days and had no idea if she was alright or if she was dead or if the City was gone or the Traveler was gone, but she couldn’t help but fear the worst. She and Mava had been stuck here and running from Cabal for months and she was sure Lox wouldn’t leave them alone for that long if she had any power to find them. The hunter had no qualms with ignoring orders, so if she hadn’t come she was probably dead.

Mava seemed confident she was alive but unable to leave Earth, but now Mava was gone too. She had seemed sure they would meet up in these mountains but Lio couldn’t find where she was supposed to go and had no idea how long it was supposed to take.

The stress and anxiety was physically draining and she hated how horrible she felt. She knew she needed to keep going, to try and find this hab, but she didn’t want to move. It felt hopeless. Normally she knew she wouldn’t truly die, but now she didn’t even have that reassurance. She was lost and alone.

Mava’s ghost dropped into her lap as she pulled her helmet off and sat it next to her feet. She scrubbed her eyes with the back of a hand and pulled her knees up, curling tighter around Mava’s ghost and making herself as comfortable as she could in the little alcove. Her own ghost materialized and his tines all drooped. He looked as tired as she felt and her heart ached. She reached up and pulled him close, snuggling around him as well. She would rest a few minutes, taking what little comfort she could get from the weight of the two ghosts, and then keep going.

She didn’t remember falling asleep but as she blinked her eyes open she definitely felt like she had. Her eyes were dry and her mind was sluggish. She yawned and shifted and was immediately shushed by her ghost. She blinked and frowned at him, confused. He fizzled out of view, taking his place in her mind.

_Something’s outside._

Sleepiness was banished by adrenaline as she panicked. Her hands twitched as she tried to figure out if she should reach for her helmet or her gun or Mava’s ghost first.

_Stay still! Stay quiet._

She froze and grabbed Mava’s ghost tight as she strained to hear whatever her ghost had. There was wind, sand blowing into rocks, the painfully loud sound of her own heartbeat but nothing— Sand crunched as something walked nearer to her alcove. Every muscle in her body tensed as the steps paused. Something scraped on the rocks and a shape swung into view in the opening of the alcove.

Liora screamed.

The shape lurched backward with a shriek of its own, a harsh mechanical sound that reminded her of a hobgoblin. It tripped on its own feet and stumbled back a few steps before crouching down and making a down-up-down motion with both hands.

She stopped screaming, but still pressed herself into the rocks behind her, breath coming in deep gasps as her heart raced. The figure didn’t look Cabal, but she wasn’t convinced it wasn’t dangerous.

It beckoned to her. She shook her head. It hesitated a moment, gestured at itself and pointed into the alcove. She shook her head even harder and coughed as she started crying.

“Gua—rd—ian?”

The voice from outside was strained and quiet and she looked out at the figure. It had sat down in the sand and pointed at her.

“Guardian?” It asked again. The voice was smoother but still distorted.

She hesitated but nodded. The figure scooted a bit closer and opened its hands as though it was showing her a bug it had caught. A black and tan ghost materialized over the hands for a moment before disappearing again.

She gasped. “You… you’re a Guardian?”

A nod and another beckoning hand gesture. Very carefully, very slowly, she edged her way out, closer to the other Guardian. Most of its armor seemed old, but well cared for. Mismatched pieces collected from various places, she thought. The deep-hooded cloak made her think hunter, but the twisted band of metal and rope wrapping around its left arm made her think warlock.

It seemed to tilt its head before pulling the cowl on its cloak back and Liora found herself looking at an exo. Brown-black plating and orange paint colored his face and orange eyes took in her appearance, lingering a few seconds on the ghost in her hands. Unlike most other exos she’d seen, there were no mouth or throat lights that she could see.

He reached a hand toward Mava’s ghost and she snatched him away. The hand was quickly withdrawn.

“Don’t. I… I have to protect him.”

The exo nodded. “Sorry.”

Again, the distortion. Like the voice was coming through speakers from a distance. The lack of throat lights was more disconcerting than she excpected.

“Are—lost?” He sounded like he hadn’t spoken in ages and static garbled some of the words.

She nodded again and could feel more tears pricking her eyes. “Please help me.”

The exo’s head tilted again and his antennae flicked down. He froze for a moment, perhaps having a conversation with his own ghost, before he stood and offered her a hand to help her up. She happily accepted and kept hold of his hand, desperate for confirmation he was real; he didn’t pull away. Leaving that hand in Lio’s grasp, he crouched down and grabbed her helmet.

He set off with a gentle tug on her hand. She looked down at Mava’s ghost as they walked and felt a tiny bit of relief for the first time in months.

“Hallow.”

She glanced up at the exo, confused. “What?”

He looked at her and tapped his chest with her helmet. “I—Hallow.”

Oh. “I’m Liora.”

The exo nodded a few times and said nothing more as they walked.

“Have you… have you seen anyone else? Here? Another exo?”

Hallow peered at her but remained silent. She looked at Mava’s ghost again and his gaze followed hers.

“She’s… she’s supposed to meet me here. She said she would be here…”

A mechanical grinding echoed from Hallow and she looked up, startled. She thought she saw a faint trace of white light in his jaw.

“Just you,” he said.

She sighed heavily. It had been a longshot but she had hoped that maybe…

Hallow squeezed her hand. “Big world.”

She glanced behind them and the sand and rocks looked no different from those in front of them. The hand that was holding Mava’s ghost squeezed it tight and she prayed they were both still alive.


	2. Chapter 2

She hadn’t spoken another word since asking about her friend. Granted, she had slept for most of the past couple of days, but Hallow had expected the little Guardian to have been more talkative. He didn’t know much about other Guardians, but from what he’d glimpsed they always seemed to be roaming around in chatty groups.

It wasn’t that he minded the silence – when you lived completely alone on a dead world, it became a normal part of life – he just kept forgetting he had a guest. He’d lost track of the number of times he’d walked into the room and been startled by the existence of another person and thought if Liora would talk more he might remember she was there.

He thought something terrible must have happened. Something terrible had obviously happened to all of them, but something specific to Liora – the dead silent Ghost, her question about meeting another…

He felt for her. Hopefully she would find who she was looking for. When he went out on his scouts, he kept watch for sign of anyone else, but had found nothing thus far. No Guardians or others.

She was sitting on a pile of worn cushions stitching up some tears in her robes. Her hands fumbled with the needle and thread – Hallow assumed this was something she didn’t typically do – but she didn’t get frustrated. She paused a moment and looked up at him.

“How long have you been here?”

He tilted his head. There was no common frame of reference he could use, and he’d long since stopped counting days. “Always.”

Her nose crinkled. “That’s not really an answer.”

He shrugged a shoulder and sat on his own cushions to clean sand out of his own gear. “It’s the only answer. I have only been here. Always here.”

“You’ve… never been to the City? Never seen the Traveler?”

Contradictory memories floated up – he had seen the Traveler (he hadn’t). He’d come from the City (he’d come from here). He hated the moments of duality. The Moment had been many, many days ago and he still hadn’t gotten used to the feeling.

He fell back on simplicity. “No.”

“Oh… sorry.”

He peered at her. “Why? There is no use. No need. Home is here.”

“I…” She paused and then shrugged, looking back down at her work. “I guess I just thought all Guardians went back to the City and lived there. Everyone I’ve heard mention their first rez said their Ghost led them back.”

Duality again. Simplicity again. “There was no need.”

She went back to her work and silence fell again. This time it felt… off. He paid it little mind and clicked quietly as he noticed the wear on one of his boots. It would be difficult to repair if it decided to break.

“So, um… what subclass do you—did you use?”

Hallow blinked at her. “What?”

“You know… like arc, void, or solar? What kind of Light did you use?”

“Oh.” Those words he knew. “Solar. The sword.”

“Warlocks don’t have a sword.” There was no questioning tone. She was confident in her statement and Hallow was confused. “I don’t think anyone has a sword.”

The second statement carried uncertainty, but Hallow knew he fell under ‘Warlock’ and he knew he could call a sword. A brief moment of curiosity for the current workings of other Guardians graced him before he dismissed it.

“Dawnblade. I have one.” He hesitated and corrected himself. “Had one.”

“Yeah…”

Liora’s mood seemed to fall again and Hallow was puzzled for a moment before he realized their conversation had drifted close to The Moment. She must have been hoping conversation would keep her mind from it and they’d ended up there anyway. It was inevitable, he thought, but they could at least refrain from discussing that they had each lost.

He grabbed up his coat and spread it carefully over his lap, checking it for any new holes or spots of wear.

“Tell me of the City.”

Liora looked at him, surprised, before a small, thankful smile found its way onto her face. She happily accepted the offer for distraction and started telling Hallow all about the City and the Traveler and the people and Guardians who lived there.


End file.
